Remember the time...

Whenever I get together with my family, it seems like someone starts reminiscing about something or other.  Lately it's been hotter here than the surface of the sun so that starts me thinking about when I was a kid and it was hot.  I'm pretty sure it was never this hot out.  My mom would disagree but what does she know?  :)

I know when I was a kid, there was no sitting in the A/C watching movies and TV all day.  My mom would have had an aneurysm.  She surely kicked us out and told us to get some exercise.  *Side note: back then you could be gone for hours on end and no one thought a thing about it.  Now you'd be arrested for child endangerment or something.*  But I digress...

One thing we loved to do on a hot summer day was ride our go-kart.  Yes, a go-kart.  We lived on a big acreage to we had the space to ride around.  It wasn't like we were popping wheelies in the driveway.  Nope, this was hard-core, all-out go-karting!  Seriously, lives were at stake here!  We would race as fast as we possibly could, never thinking about things being in our way, like trees, the well, or our siblings.  Nope, it just didn't occur to us that there could possibly be a hazard in our path.  Our back acre was nothing but prairie grass so one day, my dad took out the old Snapper riding lawn mower and made us a go-kart path through the prairie grass.  This wasn't some boring straight line.  No way, this was a seriously loopy path.  There was a short path and a long one that looped together and connected.  It was a masterpiece.

So on the hot days, we'd go outside, start up the go-kart and ride like the wind.  My sister would ride with a big smile on her face and her mop of frizzy blond hair flapping in the breeze.  (yes Salli, it was frizzy.  Hello!  It was the 80's...practically a compliment)  My brother would go as fast as he possibly could with his mouth wide open.  (I have always been curious how many bugs went straight down his throat).  I was always last to go (curse of the 3rd child), and I'm sure I had a look of complete shock that it was finally my turn and there was actually still gas in the thing.  I was always scared to go through the prairie grass though.  You never knew when you might come across a spider web hanging across with a big old garden spider planted right in your path.  Yep, it happened to me once or twice.  Perhaps that's why I hate spiders so much now...

Anyway, so as these days are super hot and humid, I long for our go-kart.  Although if I were to get on one today I'd want a thicker seat.  Man, my butt hurt after riding!  Oh, and better shocks.  Nothing like getting your innerds good and jostled.  While we're at it, make the seat go back a bit.  I could have flossed my teeth with my knees.  Oh, and really...what was up with the noise?  Could it not have been a tad quieter?

Ok so maybe I don't really want a go-kart, I want a Land Rover.  :)